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Transgender Coloradans Face Daunting Obstacles by Lindsay Miller EDGE Contributor Thursday Nov 8, 2012 According to the Colorado findings of the National

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, Jan 3, 2013

Transgender Coloradans Face Daunting Obstacles

by Lindsay Miller

EDGE Contributor

Thursday Nov 8, 2012

According to the Colorado findings of the National Transgender Discrimination Study, transgender Coloradans still face serious obstacles in the form of discrimination that affects nearly every aspect of their lives, from workplace discrimination to unemployment to homelessness to health care inequalities.

San Francisco Plans to Provide Transgender Surgeries

SAN FRANCISCO - San Francisco is preparing to become the first U.S. city to provide and cover the cost of sex reassignment surgeries for uninsured transgender residents.

The city’s Health Commission voted Tuesday to create a comprehensive program for treating transgender people experiencing mental distress because of the mismatch between their bodies and their gender identities. San Francisco already provides transgender residents with hormones, counseling and routine health services, but has stopped short of offering surgical interventions, Public Health Director Barbara Garcia said Thursday after the vote was announced.

Transgender Pakistanis Face Society’s Scorn

RAWALPINDI, Pakistan - Dressed up in elaborate, feminine outfits and artfully applied makeup, they are showered with money while dancing at all-male wedding parties. But the lives of transgender people in Pakistan are also marked by harassment, rejection and poverty.

Transgender Woman First to Win Office in Cuba

HAVANA -- Adela Hernandez, a biologically male Cuban who has lived as a female since childhood, served two years in prison in the 1980s for "dangerousness" after her own family denounced her sexuality.

This month she made history by becoming the first known transgender person to hold public office in Cuba, winning election as a delegate to the municipal government of Caibarien in the central province of Villa Clara.

Transgendered Student to Return to Kan. Elementary School

by Jason St. Amand

Web Producer / Staff Writer

Friday Dec 14, 2012

According to TLDEF, the child (named "Emma" here to protect her identity; nor was the school identified), was diagnosed with Juvenile Gender Identity Disorder. Her parents had requested the school district to transfer her to a new elementary school that would allow her to wear girls’ clothes and to be called by her own name rather than her male birth name.

Transgender College Hoops Player Keeps Head High

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - The women’s basketball team at Mission College expected the bleachers to be full and the hecklers ready when its newest player made her home court debut.

In the days leading up to the game, people had plenty to say about 6-foot-6-inch, 220-pound Gabrielle Ludwig, who joined the Lady Saints as a mid-season walk-on and became, according to advocates, the first transsexual to play college hoops as both a man and a woman.

U.S. Psychiatrists: Transgender No Longer a Mental ’Disorder’

by Jason St. Amand

Web Producer / Staff Writer

Monday Dec 31, 2012

Before the term was removed, the manual, known as DSM-5, classified a man who believe he was supposed to be a woman as someone who was mentally ill. Now, the updated DSM refers to "gender dysphoria," which is for individuals who feel distressed by their gender identity.

Ore., Calif., Require Transgender Health Coverage

Regulators in Oregon and California have quietly directed some health insurance companies to stop denying coverage for transgender patients because of their gender identity.

The states aren’t requiring coverage of specific medical treatments. But they told some private insurance companies they must pay for a transgender person’s hormone therapy, breast reduction, cancer screening or any other procedure deemed medically necessary if they cover it for patients who aren’t transgender.

Gender Identity Nondiscrimination Act Introduced in Maryland Senate

LGBT allies in the Maryland General Assembly introduced a bill Tuesday that would extend nondiscrimination protections to transgender individuals in the Free State, prohibiting the denial of employment, housing or credit based solely on a person’s gender identity or expression.

Brown University to Cover Sexual Reassignment

Surgery

by Jason St. Amand

Web Producer / Staff Writer

Monday Feb 11, 2013

The Brown Daily Herald, Brown University’s student newspaper, has announced that the college’s new health insurance plan will cover "14 different sexual reassignment surgery procedures starting in August."

Brown University Director of Insurance and Purchasing Services Jeanne Herbert confirmed the health plan change in an email to the newspaper. "We identified this as an important benefit for students to have access to," Hebert wrote.

California Governor Signs Transgender-Student Bill

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- California on Monday became the first state to enshrine certain rights for transgender K-12 students in state law, requiring public schools to allow those students access to whichever restroom and locker room they want.

Germany: Birth certificates to gain third gender option

From November this year, Germany will become the first country in Europe to introduce a third option for assigning gender on birth certificates, giving parents the choice to leave the child’s gender indeterminate.

One of the most frustrating, and often infuriating things about religious conservatives is their stubborn penchant for dividing the world into either/or categories. People are either straight or gay, white or black, male or female, religious or atheist. And of course if you're on the right side of the dichotomy, you're on the right side of God. Anyone else is at best inferior and at worst, a sinner damned to hell.

US: School district violated transgender student's rights

CHICAGO (AP) — The U.S. Department of Education said Monday that a suburban Chicago school district is violating the rights of a transgender student by refusing to allow her the unrestricted use of a girls' locker room.

Reform Jews Approve Far-Reaching Transgender Resolution

The largest movement of Judaism in the U.S. passed the most far-reaching resolution in support of transgender rights of any major religious organization, saying Thursday that it's a continuation of a tradition of inclusion in the Reform Jewish movement. http://www.edgemedianetwork.com/?188408

US: School District Violated Transgender Student's Rights

The U.S. Department of Education said Monday that a suburban Chicago school district is violating the rights of a transgender student by refusing to allow her the unrestricted use of a girls' locker room.

The Perfect "Trans-storm"

Many people are familiar with the term, "the perfect storm" that describes an event where a rare combination of circumstances will impact a situation drastically. I truly believe we are now in "a perfect storm" for the fight for equality including workplace and health benefits for transgender people. Many positive recent happenings have now all aligned so that there is a tremendous focus on understanding and appreciating this misunderstood and often maligned segment of our population.

The Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus hosted a landmark forum addressing issues of violence against the transgender community. The forum was held on November 17 at 2 p.m. in the Rayburn House Office Building. Members of Congress heard testimony from survivors of violence, community organizers, advocates and policy experts.

Religious Colleges Seek Waivers on Transgender Students

SAN FRANCISCO -- Nearly three dozen religious colleges and universities in 20 U.S. states have received federal waivers allowing them not to accommodate transgender students in admissions, housing and other areas of campus life, according to a report by the nation's largest LGBT rights group and documents obtained by The Associated Press.

Transgender Rights Group Sues State Over Care Limitation

A Minnesota gay rights advocacy group and a transgender man are seeking to overturn the state's bar on public health programs covering gender reassignment procedures in a lawsuit filed Thursday, arguing that ban treats transgender men and women as inferior.

Fraught Trans Process Exposed

Sweat is pooling beneath Eliot Daughtry's freshly-pressed white shirt, cerulean tie and khaki vest as he walks up and down Franklin Street in Oakland. It's 86 degrees and his jeans are beginning to stick. As the shutter from a camera releases, his furrowed brow softens and he grins. Click.

New York city government issues strong warning against transphobia

Transgender people have had some legal protection in New York since 2002 but the guidelines further clarify what qualifies as discrimination under ‘The New York City Human Rights Law’ and contains examples of transphobic discrimination that violates the law.

Actor Eddie Redmayne won an Oscar last year for playing Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything. Now he's been nominated for a Golden Globe for his role in another biopic, The Danish Girl. The film tells the story of transgender woman Lili Elbe, one of the first people known to have had gender reassignment surgery.

From the high-profile but ultimately disappointing transition of Caitlyn Jenner to the excellent media representations of the transgender community by Laverne Cox, Janet Mock and their peers, to the everyday struggle of transgender folks in our own communities, it's been a very visible year for the transgender struggle.